Cooling-tower.



W. R. WILSON. COOLING TOWER.

PPLIGATION FILED 0GT.1. 1912.

1 ,098,002, Patented May 26, 1914.

Z/Lfnsaes V k COLUMBIA PLANoaRAPH Co., WASHINGTON. D, c.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

WILLIAM R. WILSON, 0F YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ALBERGER PUMP AN DCONDENSER COMPANY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OIF YORK.

COOLING-TOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent. i

Application med october 1, 1912.

Patented May 2o, 1914. Serial No. 723,286.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. WILSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and Stateof New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling- Towers, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing. I

My present invention relates to certaln new and useful improvements incooling towers, and more particularly to that class of cooling towers inwhich air is circulated by means of one or more fans through the spacesof an interior filling over which the water to be cooled is spread outso as to present an extended surface to the ascending air, or to acooling tower in which a natural draft is set up in the stack by theascending heated air and vapor.

The object of the invention is to enable a cooling tower to be easilyconverted from a forced draft tower to a natural draft tower or from anatural draft tower to a forced draft tower.

It consists essentially in means for easily and quickly providing thenecessary opening at the bottom of the tower for the admission ywhich 1svertically `movable and is arranged of air in order to enable theapparatus to operate under a natural draft, and also for closing thisopening in order to allow it t0 operate under a forced draft; and italso consists in numerous details and peculiarities in the construction,arrangement and combination of parts substantially as will behereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention; Figure 1 is aside elevation of my improved convertible cooling tower, a portionthereof being broken away, and certain parts, especially thosecontiguous to the base, being shown in section. Fig. 2 is an enlargedsectional detail of the means for providing a water-seal in connectionwith certain parts of the apparatus.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe different figures of the drawing.

l denotes an elevated stack of the ordinary construction, surmountingthe tower proper 5. This is provided with a filling (not shown) overwhich the Water to be cooled is spread out so as to present a largesurface to the ascending air. The circulation of the air through thetower may obviously mit a free opening for the air. `be any suitablenumber of piers be by a forced draft or a natural draft. lWhen a forceddraft is used a fan or fans, vas at 2, are mounted on a horizontal shaft3 placed below the filling in the lower portion yof the tower casingSaid fan shaft will be actuated by means of a motor or some .otheroutside power. The water to be cooled falls through the tower from aboveland is caught below by the liquid basin or reservoir 4 from which -itis removed. Said reservoir 4 has an overflow 17 in order that a constantlevel of the water may be maintained. When the tower is to operate undera natural draft it is necessary to infcrease largely .the air inlet atthe bottom of the tower, since the openings through the fan or fans at 2are not suiicient to admit the necessary quantity of air.

The basev 5 of the .fixed portion ofthe tower casing on which the stackl is mounted, is itself-mounted on piers or supports 6 4and placed at asufficient height above the :water level carried in the basin 4, whichbasin forms apart o-f the foundation, to ad- There may 6, suflicient,

the tower.

of course, to efleetually support or cylinder,

7 indicates a sleeve, ring,

in the lower portion of the can be raised finorder to permit 'of a free,opening at the 4base of the tower for the free operation of the naturaldraft. When the ring 7 is thus raised it will be contained within 4thelower portion of the casing 5, as indicated in Fig. l.y From thisposition it is susceptible of vbeing lowered so that it will drop belowthe bottom of the casing 5 into a position alongside of the supportingpiers 6, and within the same, with its loweredge submerged below thelevel of the water in the basin 4, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1,thus forming a water-seal. Near the top of the lring 7 it is provided onthe outside with a horizontal liange 8 which, when the ring is droppedinto its -lower position, is adapted to rest upon a correspondinghorizontal flange 9 at the bottom and on the inside of the fixed lowerportion 5 of the tower casing. When the flange 8 is thus resting on theflange 9 it will be obvious, by referring to Fig. 2, that the upper edgeof the ring 7 will form with the side of the casing 5, an

annular channel 10 which will be filled by ioo the water falling throughthe tower and thus the oint at the top of the ring willlbe water-sealed.It will thus be observed that when the ring is in the position for thetower to operate under a forced draft said ring 7 will be water-sealedat top and bottom, so' that no air can enter the lower end of the casing5, and the fan or fans will thus have an opportunity to do their bestwork. But when the ring is raised into its top position the water-sealsare both automatically broken andthe ring is lifted entirely out of theway soI that a large opening, is anorded by the interior of the ring 7through' which' the air coming between the piers 6 will ascend so that anatural draft can be enecti'vely created by the ascending heated air andvapor. l

kThe ring Z is raised and lowered by means of a vertical hydrauliccylinder 11 containing a piston 12 which is strongly secured centrallyto the ring Toby means of diagonal rods 153' or other similar suitableopenwork construction that will'enable the piston 12" to be rigidlyattached' to the ring 'Z and yet will not obstruct the passage of theair through the ring 7 when the natural draft operation is in progress.The cylinder 11 is entered by a pipe 14 conveying fluid pressure' ofanylrin'd' and controlled by atwoway valve 15 havingr an operatinghandle 16. |The valve 15 allows pressure to enter the cylinder 11through the pipe 14 and thus elevate the piston 12 and the ring 7. Whenit is desired to lower the ring 7 the valve 15' will be operated by thehandle 16 so asV to cut oft' the pressure from the pipe 14v and allowsuch pressure as may be in said pipe and also in the cylinder 11 andunder piston 12 to exhaust through a proper exhaust opening in saidvalve 15.

It follows from whatI haveV already said that it is of the highestimportance to prevent the passage of air beneath the tower casing whenthe fans are in opera-tion. To make this somewhat clearer, it maybe's'aid that the successful operation of a cooling towerv depends uponbringing the air into contact with thin films of water, which films arespread over the filling inthe tower. Part of the waterl is evaporated inthis manner and practically all of the cooling effect is produced bythis evaporation. When' the tower` is operating under forced draftoper'- ation, if a free opening were left at the base of the' towerpractically all of the air would pass out through this opening and itwould not pass through the cooling towery llingand thus come in Contactwith the'fi'lm's Io'f water for 'producing the cooling effect. Thereason that under these' circumstances the ai'rwould not pass throughthe filling is that the resistance through the 'lling would be greaterthan throughthe free opening at the base of the tower; hence, thenecessity of closing the opening at the base of the tower when thelatter i-s operating under forced draft conditions will be obvious.

Many changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be madewithout exceeding the scope of my invention, and I reserve the libertyof making such variations in the detail of construction as may benecessary. I do not wish to be confined to the raising and .lowering ofthe movable ring by means of a fluid pressure'cylinder, inasmuch as thesame object may bev accomplished by manifold other different lri-nds ofmechanism'. Also the means for supplying water' pressure' to a hydrauliccylinder may vary within wide limits, since the pressu're may be takenvfrom any desired source, either the circulating system or otherwise. Itwill be found in the actual practice of my invention that manyadvantagesare' gained where a change can' be made quickly from a forceddraft to a natural draft operation, inasmuch as the saving in power dueto n'aturar draft operation can be obtainedA whenever a light load orfavorable temperature and humidity conditions permit'. K

Having thus described my invention, what I claiin' new and desire tovsecure by Let ters Patent, isz- 1. In a. cooling tower, the combinationwith the'` tower and its base which receives the water falling through'the tofwer,lvof a movable' ring in the lower part of the to'wer adaptedto' be raised to' provide anl opening at the base of the tower fornatural draft operation. y

2. The combination with a coo-ling tower, a water basin beneath, and aforced draft mechanism in the' tower, of an extension ring at thebase o,f the tower for connecting the latter with the water basin during aforced draft operation and adaptedA to be lifted to provide a largeopening at the base of the tower' for natural draft operation. y

3. The combinationwith Va cooling tower, a water basin beneath, and aforced; draft mechanism in the tower`,vof a movable ring in the lowerportion of the tower concentric therewith and adapted 1to beI raised toIpro-L vid'e an opening at the base of the' tower for natural draftoperation, and means for rais'- i'ng orlowering said ring. y

at. ,Thev combination with' cooling tower, a' reservoir beneath saidtower containing liquid, means for supporting said tower above thereservoir, a movable ring in the lower part of the tower, and a fluidpressure cylinder for raising and' lowering the ring.

5. In a cooling tower, the combination of a tower, a liquid reservoirbeneath it, means for supporting the tower above the reservoir, amovable' ringconcentric with the 1 tower and adapted to be raised andlowered so as to connect the tower with the liquid in the reservoirduring a forced draft operaiis tion and to be lifted to leave an openingduring the natural draft operation, and a hydraulic cylinder and piston,the latter connected to the ring, all arranged to operate in raising andlowering the ring, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a cooling tower, a liquid reservoir beneath it,piers supporting the tower above the reservoir, a movable ring in thelower part of the tower adapted to descend into the reservoir and to beraised into the tower above it, said ring having a flange engaging aiiange on the bottom oi the tower to provide a channel for a watersealwhen the ring is lowered, and means for raising and lowering the ring.

7. The combination with a lcooling tower and a liquid reservoir beneathit, of piers supporting the tower above the reservoir, and a concentricring in the lower part of the reservoir adapted to be raised andlowered, said ring having a flange coperating with the flange on thebase of the tower when the ring is lowered to form a waterseal, and afluid pressure cylinder and piston7 the latter connected centrally tothe ring, all arranged to operate as specified.

8. The combination with a cooling tower, of a liquid reservoir beneathit, a movable ring in the lower part of the tower adapted to be raisedor lowered, and means for watersealing the ring at top and bottom whenlowered during the natural draft operation.

9. The combination with a cooling tower, of a movable ring in the lowerportion thereof, and means for raising or lowering said ring, togetherwith means for watersealing the ring at top and bottom when it islowered.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

l/VILLIAM R. WILSON.

VJitnesses VM. R. BILLINGS, W. H. voN DRECLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

